“If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” Matthew 16:24
Dear Ones:
The realities of heaven, with the inexpressible beauty and wonder of the One on the throne, and the Lamb, far eclipses the things of earth. The Apostle Paul made the distinction between the two when he wrote: “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18) What is there about the reality of the heavenly, as opposed to the experience of earth, that no word, concept, or revelation, can fully describe it? The answer is simply that one is divine, and the other is of this earth, having its origin and expression in sin. This is not to say that God does not reveal His glory in the earth, or manifest the sweet aroma of the life of Christ, in the demonstration and power of the Spirit. It does mean, however, that there is no comparison between that which is holy and perfectly good and lovely, with that which has its origin in the heart and mind of sinful man. It is for this reason that this great comparison is revealed to mankind in the words of the Lord Jesus, when He calls a person to Himself, to salvation. This is seen in the search of the individual for eternal life. Satan can only “try” to prolong lives on this earth for his purposes, by giving them power to do his destructive deeds. Christ alone can “give” eternal life, by the indwelling Spirit, and thus provide hope, consolation, and assurance in the face of any suffering and death. He IS the resurrection, as opposed to the devil, who is the father of lies, coming only ultimately to kill and destroy.
In the comparison with regard to that which is of God, and that which is of this world, we find its expression in Jesus’ call for men to follow Him: “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself.” Why does the Lord begin with the matter of denying of oneself? What does this mean? It means to turn away from oneself, to refuse to consider oneself. It means to forget oneself. If one is convicted of sin, earnestly seeking to be forgiven and cleansed from sin, there must be a coming to Christ, His way, and alone. Salvation is not found in the devices of men, but only according to the mind of Christ, His thoughts, His way, by His power. To deny oneself, is to turn away from all the ways and means of men, to turn to Christ alone to be saved.
Then there is the matter of, “…and take up his cross…” What does this mean? Paul wrote to the Romans, that the believer is baptized into the death of Christ. He wrote to the Colossians that, “…ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” In his letter to the Galatians, he would write, “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live.” (2:20) What is the Lord telling us here? First, it is that the things of heaven have NO report with the things of earth, specifically with regard to sin, the sinner, and the effects of sin. God’s way of dealing with sin is not to transform it, make it better, create a new perspective and appearance of it. His way is annihilation, death. Sin and its effects, and the sin nature, are worthy of one thing only…a cross and the grave, never to be resurrected. So, Jesus make it very plain that if we would have Him, then we must come His way, by the turning away from ourselves, but also, by adopting, and embracing an attitude, that He alone is worthy to be trusted in, submitted to, by faith receiving all from Him. One is NOT free to truly believe in Christ if one is not willing to turn away from oneself, embrace the greater reality of the cross, by faith to follow the Lord Jesus, receiving life from Him.
Dear Father, Give us grace to truly follow Christ. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad